Congressman Sanford Bishop Treated For Cancer

Atlanta (WAOK/AJC) — United States Representative Sanford Bishop announced on Friday that has stated that he has been undergoing treatment for a throat tumor since last month. After noticing a small lump in his neck over the summer he stated that “doctors conducted some diagnostic tests and discovered that the lump was a lymph node that was involved with a cancer” that had started in his throat. “Last month I began a course of chemotherapy to shrink the tumor that will be followed by surgery to remove any that remains. My doctors at the George Washington University, near the Capitol, carefully searched for other areas of my body that might be involved and found that it was limited to my neck.”

Bishop is a native of Mobile, Alabama and began his career as a politician in 1977, with his election to the Georgia House of Representatives. After serving on the state level through 1992, the last two of those years with the Georgia Senate, he set his sights on a U.S. House seat. Bishop was re-elected to the Second Congressional District, which includes Columbus, last November. He has been an advocate for Fort Benning and its growth, especially during the most recent Base Realignment and Closure process that led to the U.S. Army Armor School relocating from Fort Knox, Kentucky, to the local post.

The Representative for Georgia’s second district sais that his doctors are optimistic that his tumor will be cured and therapy will conclude in the next few months. “While this is a serious health condition, my faith in God and confidence in my medical team in Washington, and at home, make me equally optimistic.”

Along with his job as Congressman, he is also an attorney married to Vivian Creighton Bishop, who serves as the clerk of the Municipal Court of Columbus.